Glenn and Amy Deal

In the summer of 1989, Glenn, 59, met Amy, 51, at Taylorsville's Alexander Central High School.

The track: It all began at the high school track. Amy would take her son and daughter there and walk while the children roller-bladed. I went to run fast laps in training for 10K road races. A lot of single or recently single people went to the track to walk, run or just to be alone.

The capitals: Amy was a friend of my sister's, and we'd known each other for years. When I saw her at the track one evening, we started talking. She and I started meeting there several nights a week and eventually started dating. We liked to go hear beach music and dance the shag. I would wow her with my mastery of geography – including state capitals. And she wowed me with her smile and dancing ability.

The honeymoons: We married the next year, in May 1990, joining her son and daughter with my four sons. We had two honeymoons. The first was a three-day biking trip to Boone and Linville. Later in July, we flew to Colorado to Rocky Mountain National Park for a hiking trip.

The family: There were a few shaky moments in the early years as we blended our two families, but now we are a fairly close family of eight scattered from East coast to West. Amy and I live in Taylorsville, near Hickory, and on a recent trip to see our daughter in California our flight stopped in five state capitals. After 18 years of marriage, we are more in love now than when we started walking together and talking about the capitals.